Happy Hour #12: Left Hand Brewing’s Oak Aged Imperial Stout




The Beer Genome Project Podcast show

Summary: This episode was probably recorded somewhere near the beginning of winter 2009. So even though it's a few months past recording date, there is quite a bit of relevant information to be taken from this episode. I was joined by Jason to review the 2009 Oak Aged Imperial Stout from Left Hand Brewing of Colorado. The history of the Russian Imperial Stout style is of interest as it played to both the drinking culture of the region as well as having to endure the process of being shipped across the Baltic. There have certainly been similar discussions about the strength of beers shipped from Britain to India. One note of interest is the oak casks used for the aging of this Imperial Stout were brandy barrels and not the more common bourbon barrels. According to Left Hand, it wasn't the entire recipe that was cask aged, but merely 25% that was later blended with the rest of the beer.